While Republican voters in South Carolina are being warned in a new ad not to trust Mitt Romney because, “like John Kerry, he speaks French,” politicking in Russia, where a new president will be elected in March, is a good deal less subtle.

Islamists aim to deepen their control over Egypt's lower house of parliament on Tuesday in a final phase of voting overshadowed by a threat from a liberal party to boycott elections for the upper chamber.

Egypt's two leading Islamist parties said on Sunday their separate party lists secured about three-quarters of votes cast in the second round of a parliamentary election, extending their lead in the three-stage vote.

The US withdrawal from Iraq will leave a power vacuum in the Gulf, analysts say, paving the way for Iran to increase its influence in this economic and politically strategic region, a concern echoed by America's Gulf allies.